12,608 new COVID cases in India; 72 deaths

PTI, Aug 18, 2022, 10:24 AM IST

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New Delhi: India saw a single-day rise of 12,608 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,42,98,864, while the active cases declined to 1,01,343, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The national death toll climbed to 5,27,206 with 72 fatalities, including 29 fatalities by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprised 0.23 percent of the total infections, as the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.58 percent, the health ministry said.

A decline of 3,715 cases was recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 3.48 percent, and weekly at 4.20 percent, according to the health ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 4,36,70,315. The overall fatality rate to date stands at 1.19 percent.

According to the ministry, 208.95 crore doses of the COVID vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020. It crossed the grim milestone of two crores on May 4, 2021, and four crores on January 25 this year.

The 43 new fatalities were composed of eight from Delhi, six from Maharashtra, five from Haryana, four each from Punjab and West Bengal, three from Karnataka, two each from Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, and one each from Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.